Lid type closure



June 1967 R. A. BENNEfT ETAL 3,326,363

LID TYPE CLOSURE Filed Nov. 8, 1965 3 Sheet$$heet 1 IN VENTORS ROBERT A. BENNETT ERIC A. VIESTURS g i ATTORNEYS June 20, 1967 R. A. BENNETT ETAL 3,326,363

LID TYPE CLOSURE Filed Nov. 8, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ROBERT A. BENNETT BY ERIC A. VIESTURS ATTORNEYS June 1967 R. A. BENNETT ETAL 3,326,353

LID TYPE. CLOSURE Filed Nov. 8, 1965 5 Sheetsheet 5 INVENTORS ROBERT A. BENNETT BY ERIC A.V|ESTURS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,326,363 LID TYPE CLOSURE Robert A. Bennett, 2178 Barnum Ave., Stratford, Conn. 06497, and Eric A. Viesturs, East Norwalk, Conn. Filed Nov. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 506,677 14 Claims. (Cl. 206-47) This invention relates to closures for sealing containers and more particularly to a lid type closure having one or more pockets for holding material from which the material can be readily dispensed into the container.

The present invention is directed to a closure of the lid type for sealing containers. The closure is formed of two pieces, a lid which is provided with one or more pockets raised from the bottom of the lid for holding a quantity of a material, and a tearable member located on the lid bottom for sealing the pockets. Each pocket is formed with a depression so that when pressure is ap plied to the pocket the depression causes a predetermined portion of the pocket wall to deform and to rip the sealing member. As the sealing member is ripped, the material drops out of the pocket.

The closure is adapted to fit over the mouth of a container to seal its contents. When used in this manner the material from a pocket can be dispensed directly into the container. Thus, for example, where the container is a coffee cup, the pockets can hold sugar and/or powdered cream which can be dispensed directly into the coffee. Also, since the closure seals the container, the container can be shaken to dissolve and mix the material in the liquid.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a two piece lid type closure having a tearable sealing member.

A further object is to provide a two piece lid closure in which the lid has one or more pockets which are readily deformable to tear a member sealing the pockets.

An additional object is to provide a lid type closure having one or more raised pockets for holding material, in which the pockets are sealed with a tearable member and a depression is formed across the walls of a pocket so that it can deform when pressure is applied and tear the sealing member.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification and annexed drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the closure; FIGS. 2 and 3 are elevational views taken in cross-section along lines 22 and 33 respectively of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the closure; FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the closure showing the breaking away of the bottom portion; and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the closure mounted on a container.

Referring to the various figures of the drawings, the closure 10 of the present invention includes a lid 12 and a bottom sealing member 14. The lid 12 is generally circular in shape and is formed with a downwardly turned lip 15 for fitting over and around the rim of a container 1 in FIG. 7, such as a coffee cup. The lid 12 has a circu lar side wall 17 extending upwardly from a fiat bottom wall 18 which has an annular portion 18a adjacent wall 17 and a transverse piece 18b extending diametrically across the lid.

Lid 12 is also integrally formed with a plurality of hollow pockets 20, two of which are shown. The pockets 20 are raised above the flat bottom wall 18 and preferably extend to somewhat below the upper edge of the circular wall 17. Of course, if desired, the pockets 20 can be made to extend above the wall 17 but the disclosed preferred arrangement of the invention permits easier packing of a number of lids. Each of the pockets 20 is shown as being generally semi-circular in shape and separated from each other by the flat transverse wall portion 18b and from the upstanding wall 17 by the flat annular wall portion 18a. Each pocket 20 also preferably has an internal volume sufiicient to hold a predetermined quantity of a material 22, for example, one teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of coffee, powdered cream, soft-drink concentrate, etc. While the material 22 is shown in the various figures as being a granular solid it should be understood that it also can be a one piece solid tablet, or a liquid. Also, the volume of a pocket may be more or less than the one teaspoon quantity mentioned.

The lid member 12 is preferably molded from any suitable plastic material, such as high impact polystyrene which has a high temperature melting point and can readily withstand temperatures of boiling liquids, such as water at 212 F. Such material can be pressure formed in a suitable mold to form the lid 12. In a typical case polystyrene .0012 inch thick is used. However, any plastic material with a sufiiciently high temperature (melting point) may also be utilized. Where the closure is to hold food products, the lid material also must satisfy sanitary requirements.

The bottom member 14 which seals the pockets 20 is preferably of one piece and of generally circular shape. The outer edge of member 14 extends beyond the outer walls of the pockets substantially out to the edge of the wall 17 to provide an area for sealing member 14 to the bottom of the lid at the wall portion 18a. Sealing member 14 is preferably made of a material which can be readily torn, or broken, to permit the contents 22 to be emptied from the pockets 20. The arrangement for accomplishing this is described in detail below. Suitable material for the sealing member 14 may be, for example a metal foil of aluminum, an alloy or tin with polystyrene coated on its upper surface. The foil is, for example, .001 inch thick. The use of polystyrene on member 14 permits member 14 to be heat sealed directly to the under surface of the bottom wall 18. The heat sealing melts and fuses the polystyrene of the members 12 and 14 together to form an excellent seal. This seal is preferably continuously formed around the outside of the pockets at the areas 24 on the bottom surface of annular wall portion 18a, and also in the area 26 separating the pockets on the bottom surface of wall portion 18b. This completely seals the material 22 in the pocket so that it cannot leak or drop out. In manufacturing the closure, a circular piece of polystyrene coated tin foil is laid on the under surface of the lid and a heat grid having the same general shape as wall sections 18a, 18b and 18c is brought against the uncoated surface of the metal foil. The heat transmitted through the foil to the coating fuses the two members together.

Of course, a pure plastic film can be used for member 14 and heat sealed directly to the lid. The film should be thin so that it can be readily torn. Also an uncoated foil can be used for member 14, the foil being sealed to the lid by a suitable adhesive.

The lid 12 is also formed with a raised dimple 27 having one or more holes 28 therein. Sealing member 14 also has holes 29 located in the area under the dimple 27. These holes permit steam, or other vapor, to escape through the closure so that there is no pressure buildup in the container.

To aid in breaking through the member 14 to empty the contents from the pockets 20, each of the central walls of pockets 20 is formed with a pair of walls 31 defining a V-shaped groove 30 at its inside portion adjacent the center of the lid. The walls 31 defining a V-shaped groove 30 preferably taper gradually from the widest separating portion at the bottom, defined by the triangular bottom wall sections 18c, and narrow down to a vertex 32 at the top wall of the pocket. Also, the groove walls 31 taper upwardly and inwardly from the bottom wall 18 to the vertex 32.

The top wall of each pocket is also formed with, a ridge or depression 33 which extends from the vertex 32 of groove walls 31 continuously across the width of each pocket and down the outer wall thereof terminating in a rounded groove 35 at bottom wall portion 18b. Therefore, each pocket has a continuous depression, formed by grooves 30, 33 and 35, extending across the pocket between wall sections, 18:: and 18b (or 180). While the depression is shown located across the center of each pocket, it should be understood that its location can be shifted off center.

To empty the contents from one of the pockets 20 it is only necessary to apply pressure with a finger to its top preferably on or adjacent groove 33, as shown in FIG. 6. This causes the pocket to deform across the depression so that the portions outwardly of the depression move upwardly, that is, the, ends 41 of the pocket move up. At the same time the apex of the triangular portion 180 of the bottom lid wall is moved downwardly, as shown in FIG. 5, causing the sealing member 14 to tear, firstat this point. 'As continued pressure is applied to the top of a pocket and ends 41 move further upwardly, the tearing of the member 14 continues, generally along the junction 47 (FIG. 5) of member 14 with the wall portion 14b outside of the sealing area 26. The sealing member under the other pocket is broken in the same manner.

While ,a preferred embodiment of the invention has been describedabove it will be understod that this embodirnent is illustrative. only and the invention is to be limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A closure for -a container comprising a lid integrally formed with a wall raised'fr-om its base forming a pocket for holding a quantity of material, and a tearable member on said base sealing said pocket, said wall formed with a lineal depression, pressure applied totsaid wall causing it to bend about said depression and thereby tear said tearable sealing member.

2,. A closure as in claim, 1 wherein said depression extends to a side of the. wall forming the pocket and has an enlarged portion adjacent the lid base.

3. A closure as in claim 2 wherein said, enlarged portion is generally V-shaped.

4.,A closure for a container as in claim 1 wherein said depression is continuous across the top and both sides of the wall forming the pocket and extends down adjacent the lid base and said tearable member is sealed to, the base of said lid on the surface opposite said wall to completely surround said pocket so that pressure ap plied to said wall bends it upwardly on each side of said depression and tears said tearable member to open said pocket.

5. A closure as set forth in claim 4 wherein the portion of the depression on one side of the wall forming the pocket is enlarged with respect to the remainder of the depression.

6. A closure as set forth in claim 4 wherein said lid is of plastic material and said tearable sealing member includes a material which is heat scalable to said lid.

7. A closure for a container as set forth in claim 1 wherein said integral raised wall forms two pockets raised from the base, each for holding a quantity of material, the wall being formed to separate the pockets from each other by a portion of said base and to space the pockets from the edge of said lid by another base portion, each portion of said wall forming a pocket also being formed with a lineal depression extending across the top thereof and down the sides adjacent the lid base, and the tearable member being afiixed to said lid on the surface of the base opposite said pockets and sealed to said base portions around said pockets so that pressure applied to a respective pocket bends its wall portion on each side of the depression and rips the tearable member associated with a respective pocket.

8. A closure as in claim 7 wherein the base portion separating the two pockets extends across the lid.

9. A closure as set forth in claim 8 wherein the depression on the side portion of each Wall portion forming a pocket is formed with an enlarged portion adjacent the base to permit easier bending of each wall portion.

10. A closure as set forth in claim 9 wherein each said enlarged portion is adjacent the base portion separating the two pockets and is generally V-shaped.

11. A closure as set forth in claim 8 wherein said lid is of a plastic material and said tearable member has plastic material thereon which is heat scalable to the base.

12. A closure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said depression extends completely across one dimension of the top of the wall forming the pocket and down one side of the wall to the lid base, the portion of the depression on, the said side of the wall being generally V-shaped with the vertex of the V facing toward the pocket interior.

13. A closure as in claim 12 wherein the portion of the depression on the top of the Wall extends down the side of the wall opposite said V-shaped portion and all three depression portions form a continuous depression across the top and sides of the wall forming the pocket.

14. In combination with the closure of claim 4 in which the lid further comprises a raised lip around the pocket, av container having an opening, the lip of the lid fitting over the edge of the container opening to seal it.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,576,088 3/1926 Bunz 206-47X 2,096,825 10/1937 Roman 206-47X 2,965,496 12/1960 Serdar 220- 23 x 3,179,275 4/1965 Roskam 206-47 X FOREIGN PATENTS 566,898 12/1958 Canada.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

I. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CLOSURE FOR A CONTAINER COMPRISING A LID INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH A WALL RAISED FROM ITS BASE FORMING A POCKET FOR HOLDING A QUANTITY OF MATERIAL, AND A TEARABLE MEMBER ON SAID BASE SEALING SAID POCKET, SAID WALL FORMED WITH A LINEAL DEPRESSION, PRESSURE APPLIED TO SAID WALL CAUSING IT TO BEND ABOUT SAID DEPRESSION AND THEREBY TEAR SAID TEARABLE SEALING MEMBER. 